In early 2017, the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) merged with the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) to form the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) which is recognized as a global authority on brewing coffee. The SCA adopted a written program drafted by SCAA in January of 2014 for testing home brewing appliances and awarding certification to the appliances that passed that test program, which is considered an important marketing tool by manufacturers of coffee brewers. The test requirements are strict and are based on what is considered by the experts to be the most important factors contributing to the quality of the resulting beverage.
The program identifies and checks compliance with eight different parameters before granting certification, as listed below:
1. Coffee Volume                The volume of the brew basket must be sized in proportion to the beverage receiver's maximum capacity as stipulated by the manufacturer. Minimum technical requirement is for brew basket capacity to accommodate the Gold Cup Ratio weight of coffee per maximum capacity (˜55 grams per liter) without overflowing from the basket due to the swelling of the coffee grounds during the brew cycle. This allowance should be about 50% of the bed depth of the coffee. Best results in uniformity of extraction are obtained with coffee bed depths between 2.5 and 5.0 cm, but these dimensions are not a requirement for the certification.        
2. Brewing Time                The coffee brewer must be able to cycle its full-capacity water volume through the coffee grounds within the prescribed amount of time. For a brewer at maximum coffee and water capacity, the minimum technical requirement is for the water contact time with the coffee grounds shall be more than 4 minutes but less than 8 minutes for all brewers operating under standard temperature and pressure at the manufacturer's stated design voltage, depending on grind. Under no circumstances will water contact times in excess of 8 minutes be acceptable in meeting the certification requirements.        
3. Brewing Temperature                The coffee brewer must be able to cycle the gross water volume through the coffee grounds within the prescribed temperature range. Minimum technical requirement is for the water temperature at the point the water contacts the coffee grounds to reach 92° C. within the first minute, maintain at least that temperature (92° C.) for the remainder of the brew cycle, and never exceed 96° C. Measurement of brewing temperatures will be made by using an RTD (Resistive Temperature Device) placed at the top and in the center of the bed of coffee in the brew basket.        
4. Beverage Preparation                The coffee brewer must be able to produce a beverage with the prescribed range of solubles concentration and solubles yield. The brewer will be evaluated at stated full capacity as well as at the one-liter brew water volume. In situations where 1 liter is the maximum capacity of the brewer, the 0.5-liter brew will also be tested. Testing will begin with a coffee/water ratio of 55 g/L but will be adjusted depending on the grind and contact time to produce a brew within the Gold Cup zone of the brewing control chart.        Minimum technical requirement is for beverage strength (solubles concentration) of between 1.15% and 1.35% resulting from an extraction (solubles yield) of between 18.0% and 22.0% from the weight of coffee in the brew basket, as determined by a coffee refractometer and brewing control chart. All samples measured on the coffee refractometer are filtered prior to measurement. The grind of the coffee will be adjusted for the water contact time of the brewer in order to achieve these results whenever possible, within the specified grind parameters (see below testing procedures). Brewers must be able to meet these requirements at both full capacity and a 1 liter capacity in order to be certified by the SCAA. Brewers with the full capacity of 1 L will also be tested at 0.5 L.        
5. Uniformity of Performance                To assure the brewer model is both consistent and reliable; it will be tested for uniformity of performance. For this test, a minimum of 5 coffee brewers will be evaluated. If a brewer manufacturer has never submitted a model to the SCAA before, up to 10 individual brewers may be requested for additional testing. During testing, at least 10 separate brew cycles will be run on each brewer to evaluate solubles concentration using the coffee refractometer method and extraction calculated using the Coffee Brewing Control Chart. All samples will be filtered prior to measurement on the coffee refractometer. The coffee brew resulting from these 10 tests must range between 1.15% to 1.35% solubles concentration for all individual brewers tested. The corresponding range for solubles yield must fall between 18.0% and 22.0%.        
6. Uniformity of Extraction                At a minimum, all of the coffee in the brew basket must be wetted during the first minute of brewing to give opportunity for proper extraction.        Brewers will receive a numerical rating based on the average uniformity of extraction factor as determined by the SCAA Uniformity of Extraction Procedures for the weight of coffee at a used for the maximum water volume capacity of the brewer as stated by the manufacturer or to the SCAA Gold Cup Ratio of 55 g/L. The rating number is calculated by comparing residual soluble solids in the outside, middle, and inside areas of the wet coffee grounds in the brew basket. The result is multiplied by 100 to convert the percentage to a whole number. The Index Rating is 0-100, with 100 indicating perfect uniformity of extraction. An average uniformity rating number of 60 would be considered “good,” a rating number above 75 would be considered “excellent,” and a rating number above 90 would be “outstanding.” All ratings below 60 would be listed as “needs improvement” and would result in the brewer not passing SCAA testing and therefore needing improvement for future brewer certification by the SCAA.        
7. Beverage Clarity                Excessive sediment in the brewed coffee should be avoided. If sediment is present, the amount of will be measured in the following way: 100 grams of brewed coffee is poured through a filter paper of known weight, which is dried and weighed again. The increase in the weight of the paper is the weight of the sediment. No equipment that produces sediment of more than 75 milligrams per 100 milliliters of brewed coffee will be accepted. The brewer must produce less than 75 milligrams of sediment per 100 milliliters of brewed coffee to be certified by the SCAA.        
8. Holding Receptacle & Temperature                The container that receives the coffee after brewing must accommodate the quantity of coffee for which the brewing equipment is designed at the maximum water volume capacity designated by the manufacture and maintain the temperature of the brewed coffee at the correct holding temperature. Minimum technical requirement is for the beverage receiver to maintain the temperature of the coffee no lower than 80 degrees C. and no higher than 85 degrees C. during the first thirty (30) minutes of the holding time. During this time, at no point should the temperature of the coffee increase due to a heating element.        
Of the many hundreds of different coffee brewers available for sale in the US just a handful have passed the rigorous test prescribed by the SCAA in the three first years since the standard and the test program were established. Knowing how most coffee makers heat the water used for infusion it becomes apparent to a person familiar with the art why it would be most difficult for these coffee makers to achieve the performance target of sections 2 and 3 of the standard, namely: Brewing Time and Brewing Temperature. The reason for the difficulty in achieving these two factors lies in the design of the “horse shoe” shaped heaters typically used in most coffee makers, which cannot deliver water at precise temperature throughout the brewing cycle and are also limited in their wattage, thus they would require a longer brew cycle than 8 minutes, which is the upper end allowed by SCAA standard.
There is therefore the need, and it is an object of the present invention to provide, an apparatus having the structure, controls, and processes for creating infused beverages eligible for SCAA certification.
There is also the need, and it is also an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus capable of providing such infused beverages in up to 1.8-liter quantities.
There is also the need, and it is also an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus also capable of selectively providing such infused beverages in one cup quantities.
There is also the need, and it is also an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus able to provide variable taste and quality characteristics in the resulting infused beverage.
There is also the need, and it is also an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus having a logic system that accepts and translates specific taste and quality inputs into relevant physical parameters which may include brew temperatures, brew times, and a ratio of coffee grounds to water, and uses those to provide variable taste and quality characteristics in the resulting infused beverage.
There is also the need, and it is also an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which communicates wirelessly with a portable device such as a smart phone a tablet or a computer so that the user may select a taste and/or quality profile for the infused beverage remotely.
Additional needs and objects will become apparent by review of the disclosure herein.